Democratic Socialists Rescind AOC Endorsement over Antisemitism Awareness Panel: ‘Deep Betrayal’

The Democratic Socialists of America retracted their endorsement of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) on Wednesday over her support for the Iron Dome, her opposition to “boycotting Zionist institutions,” and a meeting she had with Jewish leaders on antisemitism.

When the DSA endorsed the New York congresswoman in June, it laid out anti-Israel and pro-socialist conditions she had to fulfill to keep the endorsement, including opposition to all aid for Israel and support for the boycott, divestment, and sanction of the Jewish state.

“Many members have supported national endorsement,” the DSA’s statement read, “while at the same time demanding that AOC demonstrate a higher level of commitment to Palestinian liberation, self-determination, and the immediate end to the heinous genocide in Gaza committed by Israel that aligns with DSA’s positions and expectations of socialists in office.”

The DSA pointed to a recent panel hosted by Ocasio-Cortez with leaders from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, whom they called “lobbyists for the IHRA definition of antisemitism,” referring to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, an intergovernmental organization which critics accuse of conflating antisemitism and anti-Zionism. The House passed a bill in May that would see the U.S. join 43 other nations, including all European nations, in officially adopting the IHRA antisemitism definition.

“This sponsorship is a deep betrayal to all those who’ve risked their welfare to fight Israeli apartheid and genocide through political and direct action in recent months, and in decades past,” the DSA said.

Amy Spitalnick, the CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs who was on the panel, “won a groundbreaking lawsuit against the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and hate groups responsible for the 2017 violence in Charlottesville,” according to a press release from Ocasio-Cortez’s office.

Ocasio-Cortez criticized the DSA’s New York chapter — which has not rescinded its endorsement — after it promoted a rally supporting Palestine’s “right to resist” the day after October 7th. But the DSA did not mention this criticism in its statement. Instead, the organization knocked the congresswoman for co-signing a press release that supported the Iron Dome, even though she voted “present” on an Iron Dome funding bill in 2021.

The DSA has faced backlash from Democratic politicians over its stances on Israel. Representative Shri Thanedar (D., Mich.) denounced his DSA membership after the group promoted the anti-Israel rally in Times Square after October 7. Still, the socialist organization is sticking to its stalwart anti-Israel stance even as it pushes out high-profile progressive members.

“To build a socialist movement that’s capable of defeating capitalism,” the DSA said Wednesday, “we must demand more from leaders in our movement.”